She's A Lady
by contraryplanetary
Summary: James decides to finally let it all out- he's determined to have Lily Evans crying like a baby.


This is just a little One-Shot with my own "deleted scene" from the day Lily yells at James down at the lake in their fifth year. It takes place after their confrontation, but before Lily goes to talk to Snape when he's waiting for her outside of Gryffindor Tower (as read in Deathly Hallows). This story is loosely based on the song "She's A Lady" by Forever the Sickest Kids. There's a little section of the lyrics near the beginning of the story. I'm just borrowing the Marauders from JKR. I swear I'll give them back… eventually. :) Anyways, I hope you enjoy this!

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James Potter was lying facedown on his four-poster bed in the 5th year boys' dormitory at Hogwarts. The red curtains surrounding his bed were drawn, as the young Mr. Potter was currently in an extreme bought of sulking. His tie was loose around his neck and his glasses lay beside him, while his legs sprawled out to the end of the mattress; one shoeless foot poked out beyond the curtain.

James's mind was spinning with the memories of his day. It had been one of the most brutal in his entire Hogwarts career. As if O.W.L. week wasn't bad enough on its own, James had gotten into a monstrous row with his lady love, Lily Evans. Well… she wasn't exactly aware that she was referred to as his "lady love". In fact, if she was aware, she would most likely pummel James Muggle-style beyond recognition.

Lily had called James some very nasty things today. And all because of _Snape_. This is what disturbed James the most.

He sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose to ease the tension of the headache he seemed to acquire whenever he pondered too long about his dastardly relationship- or lack thereof- with the fiery Miss Evans.

_I'm in love with a girl I hate;  
she enjoys pointing out every bad thing about me.  
I'm in love with a critic and a skeptic;  
a traitor, I'd trade her in a second._

James had been hearing rumblings beyond his curtains for the past hour. Now, however, they were becoming increasingly harder to ignore, as the voices were escalating in volume with the increased agitation of the speakers.

"Pads, you talk to him! It's your duty as best mate!"

"Hell no, you know I'll only muck things up more! We don't want our dear Prongs suicidal, do we? No, you do it, Pete; you're the most willing of the bunch. Go massage his feet or something!"

Silence ensued, and then Remus Lupin's quiet voice could be heard, "Oh no, Wormtail, _please_ don't tell me you were actually considering doing that."

More silence: Remus groaned. James shivered at the thought of Wormy giving him a foot rub. Then Peter said (mainly to cover his obvious embarrassment), "Er… Moony! You really should be the one to speak to Prongs. You're the brightest and the best with these kinds of, erm… matters."

James shrugged behind his curtained sanctuary; it was true. Whenever he was feeling particularly down or furious about Lily, Remus would be the first one he would approach. The other Marauders were little to no help: Peter was too overeager and Padfoot jumped at any opportunity to harass his best mate.

But Remus replied in a resolute tone, "I won't. I think James was acting a right prat today."

James's mouth flew open and he could not control the roar of rage that issued from his mouth. What injustice! Remus had witnessed the whole thing! He had seen the love of his, James's, life tear him down with slander and downright nastiness! And he was going to take _Evans' side_? Oh Hell no.

James sat up quickly and furiously ripped open the bed hangings; Peter, who was sitting closest to James's bed, gave a yelp of surprised fear. James ignored this and turned to Remus, saying coldly, "Nice to see where your loyalties lie, Lupin."

Remus, sitting on his own bed across from James's, gave a sigh and shut the book that was resting on his legs. He quickly shook his sandy brown hair out of his eyes and said, "Now, James, don't be like that." James's surly look intensified; he hated when Moony talked to him like that. It reminded him of his mother.

"You _were_ acting like a prat today," continued Remus with a dramatic sigh. After seeing James open his mouth in indignation he added, "Just hear me out. Picture yourself as Lily. No dirty thoughts, Prongs!" he exclaimed at the dreamy look that had passed over James's features. "Anyways, you're Lily."

"What's he wearing?" asked Sirius mischievously. James threw his shoe at him.

"Honestly," grumbled Remus, "James, focus. You are Lily. You walk into an argument between the boy that asks you out on a daily basis and trips you down the stairs…" ("Hey! That was once! And it was a bloody accident!") "…and your old friend."

At this point the other three Marauders gasped. James managed to sputter, "Old… _friend_?"

"Yes. Lily and Snape have been friends since before Hogwarts, she told me on Prefect's duty once."

Sirius looked thoughtful (which was rather strange, as he was Sirius Black), and piped up with, "Hey, yeah mate, remember Evans and Snivellus were on the train compartment with us for a little while on the Hogwarts Express first year!"

James waved his hand impatiently. "Of course I don't remember, Padfoot. Do you think I looked twice at girls back then? Carry on, Moony."

"So your arch-nemesis and your old neighborhood chum are in a row," said Remus, "You'd take the chum's side any day, right? Well, then it only made sense that she sided with Snape. Plus, you and Pads were being unnecessarily cruel today. Oh, and she was also very stressed out about her O.W.L.s, and I believe two of her friends are in a rather big fight as well… it was just bad timing is all," he concluded.

"You really should be a girl, Moony," said Peter in reverent awe. Remus shot him a look.

James stood suddenly and announced in a determined voice, "Well, sour mood or not, I'm not just some punching bag that she can take out her anger on. I'm marching down to the common room straight away and I'm giving her a piece of my mind. I just don't understand how Snivellus can call her a… a you-know-what and she still prefers him over me! No, I'm through with this. I'm going to yell at her until she can't take it anymore: I'm going to make Lily Evans howl with misery."

Wormtail and Padfoot uproariously cheered James, who was now breathing heavily after his outburst. Remus merely shook his head. "I'm warning you," he said. "Be careful. You're just going to make things worse for yourself. I understand why you want to talk to her, but please: try to control yourself. She's a lady, after all."

Sirius snorted. "Yes James, and after five solid years of low blows and migraines, you should ask her out for a spot of tea and some chit-chat," he said in a snobbish tone.

James made a bucktoothed face and replied, "It's a good thing I'm so dang classy, then," before scratching his armpit and winking cheekily. He resumed his normal manner and said, "Sorry Moony, but Evans is going _down_."

He punched his left fist into his right palm for emphasis. Following this he leaned over and snatched his glasses off of his bedspread. He pushed them quickly onto his nose and turned to march out of the room.

Peter and Sirius were chanting "_No mercy! No mercy! No mercy!_" but James heard Remus sigh in recognized defeat and say, "At least don't fuss with your hair too much."

James paused; he had a good point. He turned and saluted Moony before shutting the dormitory door and proceeding with his battle charge- which was really more of a walk- to finally tell off a very unsuspecting redhead.

xx

On his trek downstairs, James gave himself a mental pep talk. _And I don't care what she's wearing, Potter- picture Slughorn's head on her body if you have to! Do not forget the task at hand! She's caused your body five years of damage, and your heart two years of anguish. It's time to finally give her a piece of your mind. Remember all of the horrible things she's done to you…_

James reached the last step of the boys' dormitories and poked his head out of the doorway slightly. Only a handful of people were in the common room- many were outside enjoying the pleasant end-of-term weather, while others had headed down to an early dinner.

His eyes scoured quickly over the inhabitants of the common room (most were younger students fretting over their final exams), and he finally spotted a figure in a squashy armchair by the fireplace. The red hair made her quickly identifiable in James's mind.

After standing up straighter and pushing his rolled school sleeves higher up his forearms, James puffed out his scrawny fifteen year-old chest and began to walk purposefully over to Lily.

He had begun to mutter quietly to himself, "In third year she put a Dungbomb in your Quidditch robes… First year she charmed your toenails electric yellow… She dumped Butterbeer all over you when you used one of Padfoot's pick-up lines on her… She's foul… She's awful… No mercy… Oh damn, I hope I wasn't strutting just now, she hates that…"

But he stopped short not even five feet from Lily and watched her with wide eyes. She was hugging her knees close to her chest and her head was lowered. Her whole body was shaking slightly and as James watched in worried fascination she heaved a great sigh and raised her head to gaze into the fireplace, which was currently not being used. Her eyes were unusually bright; a tear fell and made a path down her cheek just as James stood there.

Now he faced a dilemma: did he dare sit down and try to console her, or should he run back up to safe dormitory while he still had the ability to have children? His question was answered for him when Lily's head dropped into her hands and she began quietly sobbing. There was no way he could leave her now.

James sat down on the couch near her armchair, making sure to leave some space, just in case she was feeling violent. Lily jumped when she heard him sit and quickly attempted to wipe her eyes before turning to look at him.

Once she realized it was James sitting there, she tried to give him a watery glare, but it was rather half-hearted and she quickly gave up and settled back in her chair to gaze into the unlit fireplace. "Hullo," she said in a hollow voice.

James was flabbergasted. Did _Lily Evans_ just greet him in a civil manner? It was shocking. So shocking, in fact, that James had totally forgotten his purpose for being there. Why had he come down here? Why was he sitting with a distraught but slightly amiable Lily? What had he been chanting to himself the whole way over here? All he could hear in his head, like a broken record, was Moony's voice saying, "_At least don't fuss with you hair too much_." James shook his head violently to clear it and then glanced up to see Lily looking at him, puzzled.

"'Lo, Evans," said James in a voice that would have been casual, had his voice not cracked. He sunk a little lower in his spot on the couch and hoped she could not see the redness on his cheeks.

An awkward silence followed as Lily had taken to looking intently at the floor and sniffling to calm herself down.

James opened and closed his mouth several times before he finally could deal with the muteness no longer and blurted out, "Look, I'm sorry about… today. All of it. I was being a prat." Something in James's mind told him that hadn't been what he had come down here to say.

Lily looked stunned. "I, uh, erm… it's alright Potter," she stammered. "I suppose I should apologize as well, then… Some of the things I said…" she broke off and resumed staring at the floor. James shrugged easily and silence fell yet again.

"I know it's really none of my business, so feel free to tell me to get my egotistical arse out of here," said James, some of his usual cockiness returning, "but Sniv… _Snape_ sure seems to have done a number on you." He gestured at her puffy eyes, which were still directed at the ground; she was now scowling. Seeing he wasn't going to get a response, James said in a more considerate way, "He had no right to say that to you, Evans, no right at all."

This finally seemed to set Lily off. She stood up suddenly and kicked the chair she had been sulking in- she gave a rather loud yelp at the contact- and began pacing wildly in front of the couch James was sitting on.

"You're damn right he had no right to say that to me!" she exclaimed in fury. James glanced uneasily over his shoulder- a group of first years were staring at Lily. A small girl with pigtails' mouth was agape. "After all of the shit I put up with! HE'S CHUMMY WITH WANNABE DEATH EATERS FOR MERLIN'S SAKE! Oh, and he just prattles on and on about _you_," she snarled at James, who was beginning to be scared as well now, "how you're such an awful person who's only after me because I'm the only girl who won't have you… as if I wasn't aware of that without his bloody help." James's mouth fell open in fury; he had to bite his lip to keep himself from yelling at her.

She heaved yet another heavy sigh and plopped herself down in the seat on the couch next to James. "Worst part about it all," she mumbled to her folded hands, "is that he once told me that the fact that my whole family was Muggle didn't matter one bit."

At this point she turned to James and asked, in a pitiful and childlike voice, "_Does _it matter? Am I worse than any other witch because I grew up riding bicycles instead of broomsticks?"

James could only stare at her, dumbstruck. She was looking at him imploringly, as though his answer to her question was vital. Indeed, she was sitting mere inches from James- he could count the number of freckles on her face. Her eyes were still slightly red, but they shone up at him with hurt and questioning- the most brilliant shade of green he had ever seen. Her straight, deep red hair was blowing lightly across her face due to the breeze of an open window. Her pink lips were parted, the bottom one quivering ever so slightly. James quickly decided that this was, without a doubt, the most beautiful he had ever seen her.

He took a deep breath, looked her straight in the eye, and told her, "Evans, Evans, Evans. Don't you ever listen to one more word that greasy git says about you. You're the brightest witch I know, and I can pretty much guarantee that there're people out there that would kill to get their hands on some blood like yours."

James could practically see the relief watch over Lily as she looked down once more, a slight blush creeping upon her cheeks. "I just didn't know one word could make a person feel so dirty," she admitted in a small voice. She caught sight of James's clenched fists, furrowed her brow, and asked, "What exactly are you doing, Potter?"

"To be perfectly honest, I'm trying _really_ hard not to touch my hair." Lily had to turn away to hide her smile.

"Well," she said, standing and wiping her eyes one final time, "I think I'm gonna head down to dinner; and who knows, afterwards I might teach _Snivelly _a lesson on how to treat a lady."

James positively beamed. "Don't hold back when you do, Evans."

She walked past the couch and was halfway towards the portrait hole before she stopped, spun around, and hesitantly said, "Potter?" James turned from his spot on the couch and looked at her.

"Thanks."

"Not a problem. And don't forget what I said about... er... your blood situation," he finished lamely.

The corner of her mouth twitched and she nodded before turning once more and walking away.

"And Evans!" he called when her hand was on the picture of the Fat Lady, ready to walk out into the corridor. She paused, obviously listening. "Go out with me?"

Lily threw her hands up in the air and said in a harassed voice, "Always have to spoil a semi-decent moment, don't you Potter?!" before flinging open the door to Gryffindor Tower and stalking out.

James blinked, and then stuck his tongue out at the place where she had just been standing and began feverishly running his hands through his hair.

xx

When James had traipsed back up the steps to his dormitory and opened the door, three sets of eyes all snapped up to look at him: Remus appeared curious, Padfoot was grinning, and Peter looked about to wet himself with anticipation.

"Well?!" he squeaked out. "How'd it go?! Did she cause a scene when she burst into tears?"

James looked lazily at each of his friends before casually walking over to his bed and sitting down. He let out a contented sigh and said, "She's got seventeen freckles on her nose."

Remus, Peter, and Sirius simultaneously groaned and slapped a hand to their forehead in exasperation. James merely leaned back and smiled goofily at the ceiling of his four-poster. He chose to ignore Sirius when he muttered bitterly, "Next time we're transfiguring Slughorn's head on Evans' body."

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